From document JP 60052455 A, a paper path switching device is known, in which a paper sheet to be transported is guided past air-transmissive vacuum rollers that are arranged above and below a paper path. One of the vacuum rollers attracts the paper sheet and selectively guides said paper sheet to one of two branch paths that are provided on opposite sides of the paper path in this paper path switching device.
This known paper path switching device has the disadvantage that a paper sheet is only guided along a line of contact with one of the air-transmissive vacuum rollers on its sheet transport path. Consequently, the sheet may form waves upstream and downstream of this line of contact, and sheet jams may easily occur, thus leading to production down times.